given power by the state to negotiate incentives, grants, and
other enticements to lure new business and to encourage
growth in existing operations.
Significantly for the transportation and supply chain
community, one area of focus is logistics. “The state government identified nine industry clusters that it felt were
important to growth, and logistics is one of the nine,” says
Mark Patton, general manager of bio/health, information
services, and logistics at JobsOhio. He says that manufacturing and logistics are tightly coupled in Ohio, and many
companies are moving their operations back from China to
Ohio as automation has reduced China’s labor cost advantage. “They are finding it is more expensive to move products a long distance than to manufacture it here,” Patton
explains.
To meet expected growth in manufacturing, transportation, and distribution, the state has committed to supporting logistics infrastructure in several key areas. One of
those areas is its extensive interstate highway system, which
allows easy reach to both U.S. and Canadian commercial
and population centers. Some 60 percent of U.S. citizens
and 50 percent of Canadians live within a 600-mile radius
of the state.
Ohio also offers easy rail access. Containers arriving at
the Port of Norfolk (Virginia) can reach Ohio within a day
by rail. The state also boasts 13 intermodal terminals. That
compares favorably with California, which has 10 inter-
modal terminals in a much larger geographic region. In
addition to rail, shippers of bulk products have the option
of moving goods via Lake Erie to the north and along the
Ohio River, which makes up the state’s southern border.
HOME GROWN
Just as Ohio is a convenient location for logistics and distribution, it is well situated for businesses that serve the
supply chain community. For example, Intelligrated, one of
the world’s largest automated material handling systems
manufacturers, is located in Mason, Ohio, just a stone’s
throw from Cincinnati. Company officials say the Midwest
location makes it easy to ship products to the majority of its
customers as well as to visit their sites.
“Clearly, having many of our customers nearby is a great
advantage,” says Chris Cole, Intelligrated’s CEO. Key
Intelligrated customers in Ohio include Anheuser-Busch,
Big Lots, Cardinal Health, Georgia Pacific, Kraft, PepsiCo,
Procter & Gamble, and Staples, to name just a few.
In 2009, Intelligrated partnered with the Ohio
Department of Development and JobsOhio, receiving a $24
million incentive package to help the company expand. In
return, Intelligrated promised to increase its workforce
from 537 to 804 by the end of 2012. The company actually
surpassed that goal in 2011, and it continues to open new
slots, many of which are high-paying engineering and technical positions.
This past January, Intelligrated broke ground on a new
108,000-square-foot facility at its Mason headquarters to
accommodate its engineering, customer service, research
and development, and testing facilities –450 workers will be
housed there in all.
“The state has been great to work with, including the various port authorities. And the city of Mason has also been
a tremendous partner in helping our company to grow,”
says Cole. “In an era when many have doubted America’s
manufacturing abilities, we have proven that a quality
